Growing Tree North Preschool Program
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In preschool, we focus on the development of empathic thinking, strengthening self-help & cooperation skills, as well as increasing the children’s involvement and level of responsibility for themselves and the overall success of their classroom. Over the course of this year, the children will enhance their understanding of themselves while growing a deep respect and appreciation for the beautiful differences found within varying cultures, people, family, nature, and within this wonderful world we all share. Throughout the year, children will engage in teamwork, discussions, and hands-on experiences that develop children into active thinkers and social learners.
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Click HERE To View A Sample Pre-School Daily Schedule
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Circle Time Additions
Besides classroom jobs, the children will now also be involved in introducing the day with learning to navigate a full monthly calendar complete with upcoming events, a meteorologist report outlining the day's weather, and learning respect for our nation by stating the pledge of allegiance.
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Communal Responsibility
Preschool children will now be responsible for classroom jobs. There will be an array of jobs available to the children ranging from calendar helper to snack helper. During circle time, children will have to identify their name and request the job of their choosing, using a full sentence. Each day, the children will have the opportunity to choose a new job. These daily jobs will help children to develop a sense of responsibility for themselves, their peers, and their classroom. The children will also be responsible for assisting in the setup and cleanup of centers and playtime.
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Math Curriculum
The Preschool children use Get Set For School: Numbers & Math, an award winning researched based curriculum for preschoolers that is both playful and hands-on. The program will take children across five important mathematical domains that scaffold a solid foundation needed for the development of complex mathematical skills. Over the course of the year, families receive information about the program and tips on how you can help at home.
To Read More About Our Get Set For School Math Program Click Here
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Center Based Program Enhancements
Here at the Growing Tree, we run a center based program offering children the opportunity to choose and move between multiple learning experiences. This promotes the children’s sense of self and helps them to develop personal opinions as they choose what and where they want to play and learn. Centers also enable teachers to work with children in small group settings. This increases the personalized attention each child receives and enables teachers to differentiate learning experiences to appropriately challenge each child individually.
Children will now be directly involved in the center management process which encourages the use of higher level thinking skills. They must first use name recognition skills to locate their name card, evaluate which centers are open, and then think about what they want to do before acting. Once they decide, they must place their name card on an available center space. Whenever they change centers, the children must remember this process. Initially, this will be very challenging for the children, pushing them to manage their own decisions and to remember to take their name card with them as they rotate. However, by the end of the year, they will be experts and confident decision markers.
Each day children will have center choices including, dramatic play, play doh, easel painting, sensory table experiences, fine motor manipulative play, collage & drawing, block buildings, and so much more.
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Bucket filling Program
Based off the award winning book, Fill A Bucket by, Carol McCloud and Katherine Martin, this character development program helps children to understand the concept of empathy through easy to understand concepts. The Bucket Filling program teaches children that everyone carries an invisible bucket that holds our good thoughts and feelings. When our buckets are empty, we feel sad. Children quickly learn that we can fill up our buckets by doing or saying kind, considerate, caring, and respectful things to one another. Throughout this school year we will need your help in encouraging, reminding, and recognizing everyone’s efforts to be bucket fillers at home, here at school, and everywhere we go.
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Social Studies/ Science Weekly Themes
The children learn weekly social studies and science themes highlighting calendar related events, cultural differences, holidays, and topics pulled from the exploration of the natural world around us. The children explore the world of nonfiction literature and begin to go deeper with each theme. These lessons will strengthen self-regulatory skills by slowly increasing lesson times and learning a more in-depth curriculum.
The children learn the value of questioning as their curiosity is sparked with exciting science experiments, testing predictions, and learning to organize data received from various social surveys & experiments. These themes will be tied into fictional read-alouds, weekly songs and fingerplays, daily art projects, outdoors games, dramatic play, and hand-on learning center choices.
Some themes your child will experience this year will include, but are not limited to, an all about me unit, friendship unit, seasonal theme units, historical units, as well as scientific units such as, dinosaurs, space, animals, and insect investigations.
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Readiness & Writing Curriculum
Our Pre-School program uses a handwriting program based off of over twenty-five years of success with Handwriting Without Tears, a research based handwriting program for preschoolers. This program uses music, movement, and multi sensory manipulatives to teach core readiness skills including crayon grip, letter and number recognition, number and capital letter formation, and body awareness.
In class, we will be using music, dough, magnetic stamps, and wood pieces to develop important habits needed for school. The children will now also have access to writing centers each day where they can choose from an array of writing tools and papers.
At home, children should have their own special writing bins complete with paper choices and varied writing tools. With supervision, children should now have access to scissors, glue, tape, and paint options.
To Read More About Our Handwriting Without Tears Program Click Here
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Weekly Special Events Include...
- Foreign Language Classes
- Tumbling Classes
- Music Classes Using Guitar & Puppets!
- Zumba Class
- Surpising Science Experiments
- Making Play Dough FROM SCRATCH
- And MUCH MUCH more!
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Our Annual Preschool Mother's Day Tea Party!
Each year the Preschool mothers join us for a fantastic mother's day tea party! The children work hard practicing special songs dedicated to their moms and enjoy delicious finger foods and drinks together!
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